Learn More About the Pests Invading Your Home

How to Protect Your Storage Shed from Ants and Roaches

Most people think of their storage shed as a place to store the lawn mower and garden tools. To an ant or cockroach, your storage shed is a five-star hotel and eatery. Sheds provide pest with shelter from storms, heat, and drought and offer dining accommodations ranging from yard waste to garbage scraps and recyclable cans. Best of all, humans only show up on rare occasions to interrupt the fun.

Ants and roaches are perpetually hungry and thirsty. They reproduce like crazy and the need to feed the colony or nest is constant. To keep your shed from becoming a real roach motel, employ preventative measures and chemical cocktails.

As in the home, cleanliness is the best antidote to ant and roach problems. Aluminum cans with a little residue at the bottom, along with newspapers and grass clippings, not only feed ants and roaches; they provide places for them to hide. Any materials waiting for the recycler should be stored in airtight cans. Ants and roaches are also drawn to standing water so fixing leaky faucets and pipes not only dries up a source of bug sustenance but saves you money on your water bill. If you’re really motivated, get out the mop and bucket and clean the shed floor with soapy water. This will remove the scent trails the bugs leave for so that others may follow. Finally, caulk up cracks, holes, and gaps to keep insects out.

Once your housekeeping is finished, set bait traps. Worker ants and cockroaches will pick up the bait and carry it back to their colonies or nests. As the insects eat the infected bait, they will die, reducing the infestation. Within weeks, your shed will be bug free and you can go back to ignoring the lawn mower while you watch TV.